Heads Up

Here is the replacement for the HUD (Head Up Display) to be used in the new F-35 fighter. It's the HMDS (Helmet Mounted Display System).


The F-35 is the first fighter to be built without a HUD in decades. Even the new F-22 Raptor uses a HUD, a plate of glass in the front of the cockpit on which is displayed basic flight and targeting information so that the pilot doesn't have to look down while flying.

Now the pilot doesn't even have to look forward. He can look in any direction and the information will be displayed inside his helmet. He can even look through his own plane to target an enemy he couldn't see otherwise, like x-ray vision. The vertical takeoff version of the F-35 thus allows the pilot to see through the bottom of his plane as he descends to land.

This is the stuff of science fiction. And aviation nuts are loving it!